


Manly is a Synonym For Badass

by Jinx13GXA



Series: PRIDE 2020 [5]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Elfman is a softie, Ever doesn't like being called manly, Gen, Trans Evergreen, Trans Female Character, and proud, elfever brotp, fight me, ftlgbtpride2020, prompt: quirk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24602779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jinx13GXA/pseuds/Jinx13GXA
Summary: Ever doesn't like being called manly, no matter how confident she is in her feminity. Elfman explains why he uses "manly" the way he does, but still promisses not to use it to refer to her.
Relationships: Evergreen & Elfman Strauss
Series: PRIDE 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1775530
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22
Collections: I Take Pride in What I Am 2020





	Manly is a Synonym For Badass

Ever had transitioned so long ago that she barely remembered what she looked like beforehand. She was full confident in her gender expression and there wasn’t a damn thing anyone could say to her that could throw her off track.  _ So why does it bug me so much when Elfman calls me manly? _

It was beyond ridiculous for something so small to get under her skin so thoroughly, but it did. She was well aware of the fact that he called  _ everyone _ manly, even girls who were the epitome of womanly. But that was irrelevant. The fact of the matter was it got under her skin, and that was that. 

_ But how do I tell him that without outing myself and hurting him in the process? _

\-------------

She shouldn’t have been worried. Once she started hanging around the guild more, it was as if Elfman had picked up on it himself. The amount of times he had called her manly went down dramatically. 

_...But that makes me even more nervous… he’s a meathead. Did someone tell him? Does he know? _

She knew the guild wouldn’t care. They probably had at least one person from every sexuality out there, so of course they wouldn’t care! That didn’t mean she wanted any of them digging up things like her deadname.  _ I’m going to have to nip this is the bud, aren’t I? _

If nothing else, Ever was as stubborn as an ox. She caught Elfman the next time he was alone and asked to speak with him, but she didn’t wait with an answer before walking outside and expecting him to follow. “Do you need something Evergreen?”

“Oh, just to talk about that odd quirk of yours,” she responded carefully, “THe calling everything and everyone manly thing-”

“Ah, yeah…” Elfman rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, “I noticed that you didn’t really like it, but it still slips out sometimes…”

Ever sighed, “I assumed you had, considering that the amount of times you’ve done so in reference to me have lessened. Why do you even do it?”

Elfman smiled softly, now fairly certain he’s not going to get yelled at, “When we thought Lisanna had died, I had tried to keep myself from crying because it wasn’t manly. Natsu told me that being myself and letting myself feel emotions was more manly than hiding it. Lisanna wasn’t the only one who looked up to him, you know.” The look in his eyes was far more thoughtful than Ever would have thought him capable of if she hadn’t been around more often. “So manly probably isn’t the best word for it, but calling people badass for being themself probably isn’t the best thing to do in front of kids.”

“That... that makes sense, actually,” Ever responded quietly. “I was honestly thinking it was some kind of ‘men are better’ bullshit. Or-”

“No!” Elfman interrupted, “I might be dumb, but I’m still a feminist. All people are manly because all people are badass, but I can still avoid calling you that if you want.”

Ever nodded, “That would be appreciated. It’s uh... “ She scrunched her nose.  _ Can he keep his mouth shut if I tell him? _

“You don’t have to tell me why you don’t like it,” Elfman said a bit too quickly, “If it’s none of my business it’s none of my business. The fact is you don’t like it, so I won’t do it.” He pat her on the back the same way he did to everyone else to show he was there for them, and Ever let herself give a small smile.

“You’re not as bad as you seem at first,” She mumbled. She still had a reputation to keep thank you very much, and much like how she does with the Raijinshuu, she’s going to enjoy messing with her new friend. 


End file.
